Bolsonaro detained after being deemed a escape threat
Bolsonaro has been arrested after authorities found he posed a concrete flight risk while under domestic detention.
The former head of state was sentenced of orchestrating a armed takeover in the ninth month and handed more than a 27-year term in jail, but he continued under confinement pending legal challenges.
High Court Judge the presiding justice said the action to imprison the septuagenarian politician was a safety action after fresh information came to light.
This encompassed seeking to disable his ankle monitor and a summons to a demonstration that could "allow for a chance to flee".
Legal Document Reveals Flight Fears
In a document approving the arrest, Justice Moraes said information from the unit overseeing his home detention suggested the one-time head of state's plan to remove the electronic ankle bracelet to ensure success in his escape.
This, it said, would be made easier by the confusion caused by the gathering called by his son.
His son, his son Flávio, who works as a congressional representative, called for a assembly of his supporters near Bolsonaro's home to take place on Saturday evening.
His son wrote on online platforms on last Friday: Do you plan to struggle for your country, or watch it all from your smartphone there on your couch? I urge you to fight with us."
He said the demonstration would be so backers could "pray for his health and for the restoration of democratic rule in our nation."
Foreign Shelter Risks
Part of the magistrate's ruling was the potential of Bolsonaro's "relocation to diplomatic missions near the residence, considering that the probes revealed a record of planning to seek refuge through a embassy office", a announcement said.
The legal document emphasizes that the United States embassy in the capital, the capital city, is located around 13km from Bolsonaro's home.
Global Responses
The former president's legal troubles have provoked anger from fellow conservative nationalist United States President Donald Trump, prompting him to impose a half-rate duty on goods coming from Brazil.
The former president is being kept in a Federal Police station in Brazil's capital city and will experience a detention review on the next day.
Recent Judicial Appeals
It was only on Friday that the former president's lawyers asked the Supreme Court to permit him to serve his whole jail sentence under house arrest, with digital surveillance.
They also asked that the former president be authorized to depart his residence for healthcare, saying he required frequent medical attention for respiratory ailments and other health problems.
Context of Sentencing
Bolsonaro was found guilty of heading a plot aimed at retaining his authority after he was defeated in the national vote to his ideological adversary, President Lula.
Top judicial officials said that he knew of a plan which involved plans to kill Lula and his VP candidate, Alckmin, and to detain and kill Alexandre de Moraes - the High Court judge who has been overseeing Bolsonaro's trial.
The plot was stopped because it didn't receive the endorsement of the military leaders. The current president was took office without issue on January 1st, 2023.
But a week later, on 8 January, many Bolsonaro supporters invaded and destroyed official structures in the capital, Brasília.
The law enforcement intervened and around approximately 1,500 persons were arrested.
The justices found that the demonstrators had been incited by the former president whose plan, they said, was for the national armed forces to step in, restore order and return him to office.
At the moment, the legal team called the over 27-year sentence unreasonably severe".
He was also banned from running for public office until twenty-sixty - eight years after the completion of his term.
The ex-leader called the court case a "witch hunt and said it was intended to stop him running in the 2026 presidential election.